Three political parties allied under the banner of the right-wing Lebanese Front were instrumental in igniting the country?s long civil war. Today, in the twilight of their glory, their historic headquarters are under threat of fading into obscurity.
The house where some of the most important decisions were made about the fate of Lebanon ? the headquarters of the Lebanese National Bloc (LNB), led by the prominent Edde family ? is facing near imminent destruction.
The owner of the house, located in the Beirut neighborhood of Gemmayzeh, has filed a lawsuit for the return of her property from the current occupant ? the LNB, represented by it current president, Carlos Edde.
Edde?s lawyer countered that the owner is in her eighties and the real reason for reclaiming the home is to destroy it and sell it to a real estate developer. Nevertheless, the court decided in favor of the owner, asking her to pay close to a quarter of a million dollars to the renter as compensation. The party considered the offer too low and lodged an appeal.
The party went through this process back in 1976, when one of their regional offices in Byblos was reclaimed by the owner.
Chamoun even sought to have it listed as a heritage site eight years ago, ?closing the door before any successors, who may want to sell it,? he said.Despite the growth of the party, which was founded in 1943, the Eddes never owned their offices. Bloc members were always moving from office to office throughout the years, being pursued by landlords who sought to reappropriate their property.
Liberals Stand Firm
The story of former president Camille Chamoun?s National Liberal Party is somewhat different. This party, which later became one of the key forces in igniting the civil war, was founded in 1958 in their Sodeco area headquarters in Beirut.
At the beginning of the civil war, the party moved its offices to the Achrafieh district where they occupied several floors in the SNA building.
Their powerful Lebanese Forces allies eventually defeated the Liberals and evicted them from the SNA building, forcing the remaining leadership to return to their old headquarters in Sodeco.
Current head Dory Chamoun admits that he was forced to sell much of the party?s property in the face of repeated financial crises. Chamoun even sought to have it listed as a heritage site eight years ago, ?closing the door before any successors, who may want to sell it,? he said.
Phalange House for Sale
Perhaps the most notorious of all party headquarters is the Phalange house in Saifi on the edge of Beirut?s newly developed city center. The fall of this building during the civil war was tantamount to the defeat of Lebanon?s Christians.
The building hosted successive generations of the Gemayel family who have controlled the Phalange Party since its its foundation. Under the French Mandate, the building served as headquarters for France?s Mediterranean fleet.
Its strategic location made it repeated prey to real estate developers, particularly from Solidere, which was in charge of rebuilding downtown Beirut after the civil war. At the time, party head George Saade threatened to resign from his government position in order to save it.
Years later, some party members proposed the idea of taking down the old structure and building a much larger party headquarters in its place. But such ideas often angered its current leader, Amin Gemayel, who viewed the Saifi house as a symbol of the Phalanges.
Today, there is talk among party members of building a new headquarters that would make better use of the space around the current building. There are also rumors ? confirmed by some members of the former party leadership ? of negotiations to sell the building for $20 million. This is on the condition that the party gets a large apartment in the new development.
This article is an edited translation from the Arabic Edition.
Source: http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/lebanon-uncertain-future-civil-war-party-headquarters
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